The team accounted for 10th ranked Philippines tonight by 21 pts (94-73). Philippines tried some different tactics on us, playing a patient with a few positional changes. They got their desired mismatch at SF, and their PG playing at SF dropped 38 pts on us. Apart from that our defense was strong, and we out-rebounded them 52-43 which was a telling stat, with our 15 O boards leading to a large number of easy put backs. Another key moment was the captain, TP, retaliating to some rough play by the Philippines Center, with an aggressive foul that lead the the Center cowering off into the change rooms with minutes to go in the 3rd when the game was still up for grabs. Whilst it was in no way dirty, it was a statement by the captain that the team comes out to play hard but fair ball and will not tolerate arrogant thuggery.
No Ulcers made the most of a balanced offense, top scoring at SG, adding 5 dimes, plus a couple more 3s to his tally (very Jermaine Beal-like numbers). Munro had a dominant game, finishing with a nice double double (15 and 12), and Uggies deserves a mention, going perfect with 4-4fgs, and 6-6FTs to finish with 14 pts, 4 boards and no turn overs in just 14 min what was a very efficient game for him.
Next Monday we line up against 90th ranked Lubnan. Sadly they have only 1 player above a 7k salary, and only 3 that appear to have a salary indicating they have had a decent amount of training since being drafted.
Great job so far to all managers for their management of the team. Game shapes have remained high due to careful management of minutes. With Christian down for 3, it is a real opportunity for fringe players to step up and make the most of the court time.
Last edited by whitewind at 8/4/2014 6:56:46 PM